Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
The present invention relates in general to intelligent voice response systems accessed from touch tone telephones via a public switched telephone network, and, more specifically, to providing navigational aids to users for facilitating frequent access to predetermined services via an intelligent voice response system.
Intelligent voice response (IVR) systems provide automated telephone services for receiving incoming telephone calls, playing prerecorded messages and menu prompts, collecting touch tones or spoken commands from a caller, and executing corresponding actions. IVR technology has been employed in many services or applications including remote banking, ordering of goods and services (e.g., pay-per-view cable television programs), and accessing information from electronic databases (e.g., computer system help topics). The user typically navigates through a multi-level, hierarchical menu by pressing appropriate digits on a touch tone keypad in response to prompts spoken by the IVR system.
IVR systems provide many advantages over other automated access systems such as those found on the Internet. An IVR system provides a totally private and secure interconnection. Furthermore, the only equipment required for the caller is the telephone device itself. Therefore, a desired service can be accessed when no computer network is available.
An IVR unit will typically accept the input of a tone during its reproduction of the current voice prompt, so that a caller can make a selection as soon as it is identified (i.e., without waiting for the prompt to finish). Unless callers have accessed a particular IVR-based service many times, however, they usually cannot anticipate the current group of choices at any point within a multi-level menu. Therefore, they usually end up listening to all or most of the menu prompts before making their next selection. Depending upon the number of menu levels and the number of choices available at each level, it can take a substantial amount of time to obtain a desired action. Furthermore, if an incorrect choice is made while navigating the menu, it may take several additional steps to back up and return to the point where the mistake was made.
The resulting inefficiency of the typical IVR interface can lead to annoyance and frustration of the caller and increased load on (and increased cost of) the IVR equipment. In an attempt to minimize the time required to navigate a particular menu, voice prompts must be kept as short and concise as possible. However, the resulting prompts can become harder to comprehend. Fuller explanations of menu choices are typically not given because they would require additional complexity within the menu system.
The present invention has the advantages of reducing user interaction time with IVR systems, reducing load levels on (and thus cost of) IVR equipment, and reducing user annoyance and frustration. The invention provides electronic delivery of detailed navigational information for selected navigational paths to predetermined services available from an IVR system in response to either configured subscriber information or specific requests from users. The invention has the further advantage that information can be disseminated about hidden (i.e., unprompted) selections in an IVR menu to preferred users of the IVR system.
In one aspect of the invention, apparatus is provided comprising an intelligent voice response (IVR) unit for coupling to a public switched telephone network and providing predetermined services to a user according to an IVR menu having navigational paths to the predetermined services. The user provides selection signals to the IVR unit via a corresponding telephone call in the public switched telephone network to access the predetermined services. A navigator database stores menu definitions of respective navigational paths and is responsive to a request from the user to provide a digital representation of at least one of the navigational paths. The request identifies a desired navigational path, a desired format for the digital representation, and a destination for delivering the digital representation. An electronic delivery system transmits the digital representation in the desired format to the destination independently of the telephone call.